Process of treating vegetable fibers



Feb. 9, 1937.

T. P. HAUGHEY PROCESS 0F TREATING VEGETABLE FIBERS Original Filed Apr'il22, 1951 WEB@ X t (FDM wnmuw NN 3 @2p QU QUMQ Patented Feb. 9, 1937UNITED: STATES 2,070,273 t PnooEss or TREATING VEGETABLE mms Theodore P.Haughey, Onancock, Va., assgnor to Harold H. Brown, New York, N. Y.

Original application April 22, 1931, Serial No.

531,967. Divided and this application s, 1935, serial No. ses

4 claims.

My invention relates to a process for treating vegetable bers,particularly bast bers and is an improvement upon that described andclaimed in my United States Patent No. 1,814,155, dated July 14, 1931.The product made from my new process is spun yarn comarising pure linenor linen and cotton in intimate mixture and in controllable proportions.

Broadly, the present process, like thatl of my former patent, comprisespartially decorticating and deseeding bers, then preferably cutting theminto lengths suitable for spinning on cotton machinery and subsequentlytreating the bers to taper or fray the ends thereof to adapt them'forthe spinning operation and to remove the gums and foreign mattertherefrom; the degumming being eiected by the use of extremely dilutechemical solutions.- The present process differs from that of my formerpatent in that fewer steps are necessary for the treatment of the bers,standard cotton machinery is utilized to a greater extent, the recoveryof the gumsis utilized as an indicator of progress of the ber treatment,and the treatment is carried out under atmospheric pressure conditions.

An important feature'of the improved process is the simultaneous removalof foreign matter and the conditioning or tapering of the ends of thecut ber by violent agitation in cold Water, followed b y a degummingoperation during which the bers are kept from agitation and are treatedwith a dilute chemical solution of the type employed in my earlierprocess.

For a better understanding of the improved process reference may be hadto the attached drawing comprising a fw sheet illustratingdiagrammatically my preferred process, `as applied to the treatment ofber ax straw to produce yarn of cotton and linen in intimate mixture.

As indicated in the ow sheet, flax straw is introduced into any suitableknown type of decorticating machine I, where it is partially deseededand dewooded. The moisture content of the green ax ber should bereduced, or course, before the ber is introduced into the decorticatingmachine, as such machines cannot eiliciently treat fresh cut stock.Reduction of the moisture content to about 10%, as by air drying for oneor two weeks, is sufficient; further sea soning is of no advantage.

The decorticated ber may then be delivered to a cutting machine 2 to becut into lengths suitable for the spinning machinery upon which theproduct is to be spun. When the ber is to be spun on the more usual ringspinning ma- January chinery, the ber should be cut into lengths ofabout one to one and one-half inches or less. When mule spindles areavailable, lengths of about two and one-half inches or more aresuitable. Any known type of cutting machine may be employed. Forexample, the ordinary type now used for cutting grain for animal foddermay be employed. At this stage in the process. the bers, instead ofbeing cut could be broken or otherwise separated into the short lengthsdesired.

From the cutter 2, when used, the bers are delivered into a washer 3,preferably a machine of the type known as a rotary raw stock washer,where the cut ber is violently agitated. Water at a temperature of lessthan 80 Fahrenheit is continuously introduced into the washer 3 untilthe liquid discharged therefrom runs clear. During the rst stages ofwashing the discharged liquid is dark in color, becomes lighter as theWashing continues, and nally clears, indicating the completion of thisstep of the process.

In general, the less seasoned the ax, the less time required for thisstep of the process, as the foreign matter is more readily removed fromunseasoned ber and the cut ends thereof are more readily frayed. One andone-half hours of this treatment is ample, however, even for ber whichhas been unduly seasoned; ordinarily a shorter period of time issufficient.

This treatment removes a large part of the foreign matter of the ber,whether by dissolving of the foreign matter in the Water or bysuspension therein. The use of cold, rather than heated "water for thispurpose is important as I have found that the ber, after the abovedescribed treatment in cold water, will lose about '7% or more of itsoriginal weight, whereas the same treatment in water of highertemperature loss less than 2% of its initial weight, indicating that hotwater sets the foreign matter Without removing any appreciable amountthereof.

The agitation of the fibers in the washer s" of the ends effected byagitation during the degumming operation.

From the washer 3 the fiber is delivered to a receptacle 4 which I havecalled, on the now sheet, a non-agitating washer. This washer ispreferably of the type known to the industry as a "vacuum raw stockwasher in'which water or other uid may be forced upward through materialheld therein and withdrawn through perforations in the removable topthereof. Into such a washer the washed fiber is packed and a degummingsolution as described in my earlier application, is introduced underpressure and forced through the fiber.` Dilute solutions of permanganateof potassium or of caustic potash or caustic soda are suitabledegumrning solutions. ample I may use a solution of one half to one partby weight of caustic soda to one hundred parts of water. The solution,after passing through the fiber is preferably delivered to a centrifugalseparator 5 for removal of the gums carried thereby, and then returnedto the washer 4 and again forced through the fiber, returned toseparator 5 and then back to the washer 4; the cycle being continueduntil the discharge of gums from the separator indicates the completionof the operation. The spent solution is then drained from the washer 4and the i'lber washed for a few minutes to remove the last traces of thesolution.

After washing in the washer 4, cotton stock is added to the fiber andthe mixture delivered to a dryer 6 which can be of the type employed inthe cotton industry. If the product is to be pure linen and is to bespun on ring spindles, then, instead of the addition of cotton at thisstage, a suitable plasticizing agent, for example a dilute solution ofsilicate of soda, or of beta napthol is forced through the ber in thewasher until it is thoroughly impregnated therewith.- 'Ihis gives to therelatively slippery short fibrous bundles sumcient cohesive propertiesas to render them spinnable. The addition of the plasticizer is notessential when the ber has been cut into the longer lengths suitable formule spindles.

From the dryer t the fiber mixture of flax and /cotton or the pureplasticized ax fiber is delivered to an opener i, a carding machine 8,sliver forming machines. e and spinning machinery lil. Machines t, andi@ may be standard machines of the cotton industry without modication.The carding machine e may also be of the type used for cotton but shouldbe operated at a reduced speed. Removal of the ats of the standardcarder and substitution of a smooth surface therefor will result,however, in more eihcient operation.

One by-product of the process, as above described, is the gum recoveredby the separator 5.

In addition, the material separated from the iiax straw by thedecorticating machine i may be separated for further use by delivery ofthe seeds and boles, separated from the ax straw during the early stagesof decortication, to a winnowing machine ii and delivery of the shive,separated during the later stages of decortication together with theboles from the winnowing machine ii, to a baler i2.

I have now described my preferred process with particular reference tothe production of linen or of linen and cotton yarn., The process,however, is equally applicable to the treatment of other vegetablefibers, such as, hemp, ramie, jute, or the like and lends itself `tothe` production of pure yarns of any of these iibers or of yarns of anyof these bers mixed with cotton, Wool 91 Silkl do For exnot wish,therefore, insofar as the process is concerned, to be limited to thetreatment of ax, except as defined in the appended claims.

From the above description it will be apparent that my process can be soperformed as to produce either pure linen yarn or yarn of linen andcotton in intimate mixture in any desired proportions.

The pure dry-spun' linen yarn produced by my process can bedistinguished from wet spun yarn by its appearance as it is less twistedand has a slight tendency to curl; in this respect resembling yarn ofwool. Also the new yarn appears to be somewhat more uniform in crosssection than wet spun yarn. My pure product can be made as ne as theordinary wet spun linen. Wet spun linen runs from about sixty lea up toone hundred lea for the nst hand spun linen, or converting to the usualunit of the cotton industry, from about 2l to 35 count (one count beingequal to about 2.8 lea). Yarn produced by my process can be spun as fineas 25 or 30 count, possibly finer. This is true, whether the yarn ispure flax or cotton and ax mixed. Furthermore the mixed yarn can beproduced in any desired proportions of flax and cotton and when producedhas the appearance of an extremely uniform product.. Insofar as I amaware no such product I of flax and cotton has heretofore been produced.Such mixtures as had been produced were made by mixing tow (combings) ornoils (sweepings) of previously processed flax fibers with low gradecotton during the carding and drawing operation. Because such flax bershad not been treated so as to taper the ends thereof, they were notsuitable for spinning on cotton machinery and when mixed with cotton theresulting yarn, even when the original mixture contained a substantialamount of the flax, contained only about fifteen per cent. flax; therest of the ax being lost during the treatment. Moreover, the resultingyarn unlike my new product had the appearance of an obvious mixture, andwas not produced ner than about 9 count.

The product of mixed cotton and ax yarn, when woven into cloth has theappearance of linen but is as durable as pure linen and has a lesstendency to wrinkle. Even when the mixture contains a greater proportionof cotton than flax, cloth woven therefrom has the characteristic sheenof linen, the flax apparently being the more dominant of the two. At thepresent time, however, I prefer a product having more than ten but lessthan sixty per cent. cotton as I believe yarn of such proportions isperhaps best suited for commercial use cloth woven therefrom beingpractically undistinguishable from linen cloth and being superiorthereto in its wearingquality.

My new product is thus characterized by the fact that it is dry spun axcontaining any desired percentage of cotton (preferably more than tenand less than sixty per cent. by weight of cotton but including zero percent), that it has a count higher than 9 (preferably about 25) that itis of substantially uniform cross section, that it has a wool-liketendency to curl, and that, irrespective of the percentage of cottontherein, it does not give the appearance of a mixture but gives that ofa homogeneous yarn.

My new product is not claimed herein but is claimed in my copendingapplication Ser. No. 531,967, led April 22, i931, now U. S. Eatent No.1,986,970, of which the present application a division.

I claim: Y

1. 'Ihe process oi treating out, green vegetable fibers which includesviolently agitating the fibers in cold water to remove the foreignmatter therefrom and to taper the ends of the cut fibers and thereaftertreating the bers under atmospheric pressure with a weak chemicalsolution to remove the gums therefrom.

2. The process of treating flax, hemp or the like which includespartially deseeding and decortieating green fibers, then cutting thefibers into lengths suitable for spinning on cotton machinery, agitatingthe cut iibers in water having a temperature less than 80 F. to removeforeign matter and to taper the cut ends of the fibers, and thereafterdegumming the bers under atmospheric pressure. g

3. The process of treating bers of flax, hemp or the like to render themspinnable on cotton machinery which comprises cutting partiallydecorticated green bers in lengths suitable for spinning on cottonmachinery, washing while agitating the out bers toremove foreign matterand to taper the cut ends of the iibers, then degumming the cut bersunder atmospheric pressure, washing and plasticizing the degurnmedfibers, and nally drying and carding the plasticized fibers.

4. The process of producing an intimate mixture of lbers of ax and ofcotton suitable for spinning on cotton machinery, which includes cuttingpartially decorticated green ax fber into lengths suitable for spinningon cotton machinery,

' agitating the out bers in cold water to remove THEODORE P. HAUGHEY.

